CoinEx to Shut Down Exchange as Users Face December Withdrawal Deadline

Summary

• CoinEx will close its centralized exchange following nine years, with registrations stopping September 15 and withdrawals ending December 22 globally.
• Remaining assets may become USDT, while independent custody charges a 5% monthly fee once the final withdrawal window expires for users.
• Regulatory pressures, declining liquidity, leadership concerns, and Iran-linked transaction allegations shaped the wider context surrounding CoinEx’s formal shutdown plan.

 

CoinEx will close its cryptocurrency exchange following nine years of operations, placing millions of customers under a strict withdrawal schedule. According to the announcement, the exchange will stop accepting new registrations from September 15 and gradually remove its major services.

CoinEx blamed the closure on weaker market conditions, shrinking industry volumes, reduced liquidity, and growing compliance expenses across multiple jurisdictions. Moreover, rising operational uncertainty reportedly made sustaining the Seychelles-based trading platform increasingly difficult for its management and employees.

Founder and CEO Haipo Yang acknowledged that CoinEx never became the leading exchange he had envisioned during its launch. However, Yang maintained that an orderly closure would protect customers better than selling the platform to another operator.

He had considered a potential sale but rejected the option because he wanted to give CoinEx a clean ending. The executive also pledged to let customers withdraw their assets fully while providing employees with a dignified departure. CoinEx served millions of users across more than 200 countries and regions during its nine-year presence within the cryptocurrency industry.

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CoinEx Sets Phased Service Closures Before Independent Custody Takes Control

Several services will become unavailable from September 15, including fiat products, lending, staking, Earn, and strategic trading tools. CoinEx will also restrict margin services, while futures contracts will enter reduce-only mode under the platform’s closure arrangements.

By September 22, the exchange will terminate all non-spot services alongside on-chain deposits, except deposits involving CoinEx Token. Spot trading will end on September 29, marking the closure of the platform’s core cryptocurrency buying and selling operations.

Additionally, CoinEx Smart Chain and decentralized exchange OneSwap will stop operating under the same phased closure schedule. The company will repurchase users’ remaining CoinEx Token holdings at 0.005 USDT for every CET held on the platform.

Meanwhile, assets left on CoinEx following the spot trading deadline may be sold and converted into USDT. Customers can withdraw their balances until December 22, when CoinEx plans to terminate its remaining centralized exchange operations.

Any USDT remaining beyond that deadline will move to an independent custodian responsible for processing later customer claims. Consequently, the custodian will charge a monthly fee equal to 5% of each customer’s original transferred USDT balance.

Users will have until August 22, 2028, to claim their funds, although monthly charges could significantly reduce remaining balances. CoinEx reported that its reserve ratio exceeds 100%, suggesting customer deposits remain fully backed throughout the wind-down period. However, CoinEx Wallet and CoinEx Vault will remain operational because both services operate independently from the centralized exchange.

Regulatory Disputes Add Context to CoinEx’s Closure Decision

Regulatory challenges had previously forced CoinEx to reduce its presence within several important markets, including the United States. In 2023, CoinEx settled a lawsuit brought by the New York attorney general over alleged failures to register properly.

The agreement required customer refunds, financial penalties, and restrictions preventing the exchange from serving users within New York. Additionally, TRM Labs reported that CoinEx processed more than $3.8 billion connected to Iranian entities from 2019 onward.

The blockchain intelligence firm linked much of that activity to Nobitex and other counterparties facing international sanctions. CoinEx now enters its final operating period with customer withdrawals representing the central priority before the December closure. Users must transfer their assets within the stated window to avoid custody charges and possible reductions in their remaining balances.

Also Read: DOJ Seeks $61 Million in Crypto Linked to Iranian Oil Network

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